Grimmel seeks meeting with port officials over lease nonrenewal

Mullen mulls potential uses of scrap metal space at port

PORTSMOUTH — Pease Development Authority Executive Director David Mullen on Monday will meet with representatives of Grimmel Industries, which runs the scrap metal operation at the Port of New Hampshire.

PORTSMOUTH — Pease Development Authority Executive Director David Mullen on Monday will meet with representatives of Grimmel Industries, which runs the scrap metal operation at the Port of New Hampshire.

Grimmel requested the meeting, Mullen told the city's Economic Development Commission at a Friday morning meeting. "They didn't tell us why they're coming, but I'm sure it's not to tell us they're happy," he said.

The PDA recently voted not to renew Grimmel's contract, which expires at year's end, because of the increasing environmental and legal costs associated with the scrap metal operation.

Mullen's comments came in response to a question from an EDC member who asked if the PDA would be willing to lease the property to Grimmel Industries at the port on a year-to-year basis.

"I don't know what they're going to propose, we're just going to listen," Mullen said at the EDC meeting at PDA headquarters at Pease International Tradeport.

Mullen also revealed that when Grimmel's lease expires at year's end, he believes its space at the port could be used as a staging area for construction of a new Sarah Mildred Long Bridge. "Short-term," he said, "I think there are definitely options with the bridge construction that's going to be taking place."

Mullen said the work could last two to three years.

City Councilor Stefany Shaheen, who also serves on the EDC, asked if the space could be used to relieve the parking crunch in downtown Portsmouth, as some residents and city officials have suggested.

"The parking issue is non-maritime use and I think our legislative mandate is to use it for maritime purposes," Mullen said. "So we think under the circumstances we would have to get a legislative change to be able to do that."

He said the PDA has been talking to prospective tenants to use the space after the bridge work is done, but he said although the ferry business looks good, and many city residents have suggested it, "it's very difficult from an economic standpoint." He pointed to the recent visit of the Nova Star ferry to the Port of New Hampshire as an example.

"They are subsidized by the Canadian government and without the subsidy, it wouldn't work," Mullen said, adding the company received a $21 million forgivable loan from the Canadian government. "I don't think Portsmouth or Portland (Maine) or anybody is going to give us $21 million."

PDA and port officials are reaching out to cargo ships, but they haven't been able to secure any deals yet. "The rust pile, as people liked to call it, had some downsides, but we got about a half a million dollars out of it," Mullen said.

He described Grimmel's operation as a "tough business" in a small 11-acre yard. He said even when Grimmel tried to respond to concerns from citizens about scrap metal dust blowing out of the yard by wetting the dust down, it caused more problems.

"It created a flow of water that became processed water that then had to be permitted," Mullen said. "It was liking pushing on a balloon; everything you do has a counter balance."

Mullen said PDA officials will listen to Grimmel on Monday, but "short of building a shroud around it," he doesn't know how to contain the rust.

Rail line

Mullen showed EDC members a map showing where the right of way for a rail line runs through the tradeport.

Several people and city officials, including state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, suggested building a new rail line to run through the tradeport to carry propane rail cars from Sea-3 in Newington to avoid having the cars run through downtown Portsmouth.

"This is a line that shows the railroad right of way," he said. "It's simply a line drawn on paper."

He noted no engineering work has ever been done on the right of way and said it would be difficult to get a rail line permitted, and it would cost "a lot of time and money."

"If someone wants to study it, we'd be happy to study it with them," Mullen said.